Only the strong survive

My colleague Dave S. gave me some sound advice when I told him that I would be running a marathon. "Get in your strength training now. You're gonna need it," he said. I suppose the very fact that you're expecting your legs to carry you 26.2 miles and not stop or fall over would require some muscle strength.

I do my strength training on Monday nights as part of a class at LifeTime Fitness. It's a group strength training class called "TTT." That stands for tummy, tush, and thighs. No men in our group--I wonder why?? It's been a helpful addition to the training plan as I HATE strength training. I just find it tedious as I'd rather be moving fast. But, it really a key part of endurance, so off I go to do what needs to be done.

No running tonight. This week begins another ramp up by adding a running day on Wednesday. That means I strength train Monday, run Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, yoga on Friday, run on Saturday and Sunday. All I can say is, "thank goodness for the iPod!"

Distance run: 117.6
Deficit from plan: -15
Today's quote: "Rule 1: Don't sweat the small stuff. Rule 2: It's all small stuff, except a 15 pound barbell triceps curl."

117.6 miles and counting!

With some generous icing and a lot of stretching, I'm back on the treadmill with a vengeance. It was with some trepidation at first to make sure my skiing accident was all but a memory. This weekend saw me working on increasing my speed and distance to get back to where I was before pulling the ham string connector around my knee. Today was five miles and back up to 5.3 mph. I still have to think that at 11:30 per mile, that's still five whole hours of running for the marathon.

All I can say is that I'll need some good tunes to keep me going. If you have any suggestions for great running songs, send them to me, please. My iPod needs a boost.

Distance run: 117.6 miles
Deficit from plan: -15 miles
State of mind: happy to be back on track

Slow and steady wins the race

That would be me--definitely a slow runner, but steadily making progress getting back on program. It was good to learn early on how to handle and injury and come back slowly.

My boyfriend and I ran the Valentine's Day 5K on Saturday and that went well. He is so supportive of this albeit crazy idea of running a marathon. The race went well as I feel good about being able to run the entire way without the knee giving out. Got on the treadmill and ran 3 miles on Sunday. Back on program.

Distance run: 100.6 miles (broke the 100-mile mark!)
Deficit: -15 miles

I love the inventor of Cortisone

Thursday night was my first test on the treadmill after a ski injury has kept me off of my training regimen for a week. The one-mile test run ended in pain, so I went in to see the orthopedic doctor with an air of desperation. A few cortisone shots and a stern word about warm-up and cool-down and I was on my way to recovery. Thanks, Dr. K!!

Got back in the saddle this morning with the Valentine's Day 5K around Lake Harriet. My sweetie, Michael, and I did this together. He's so supportive to do these runs with me, despite the fact that he really doesn't enjoy running. We finished in a little over 36 minutes, so a 12-minute mile is fine with me after being on the disabled list for a week.

With that 3.1 miles under the belt, I feel good-to-go to get back on plan. That would be 3 miles tomorrow. I'll have to work on that deficit gradually.

Thanks to those who are reading the blog and sending your encouraging words.

Take care and enjoy this great weather,
Bon

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single one.

Back onto the treadmill tonight to give the bum knee a try. Thought I would run a mile and assess the damage. The ruling--not so good. Five days' rest gave me a mile. Sigh.... One day at a time. Better to let it heal than push it too fast.

Miles run: 97.5 miles
Deficit: -15 miles

Please go and check out why I'm doing this in the first place--to support the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota.

Sign-up, Check. How about your check, please?

It's official! I signed up to run the 30th annual Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon on Sunday, October 2, 2011. Less than 10 months to go! Well, that might SEEM like a lot of time, but there's no time to waste in getting in those training runs. At least I can check that big thing (registration) off of my list.

NOW--I'd like to ask you to check something off of your list. Can you support my effort to go the distance to raise money for my excellence cause: the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota (PAM)? I need 30 of my close friends and family--well, okay, how about anybody--willing to donate $1 for every marathon mile I'm running. It's my organization's 30th anniversary, the marathon's 30th anniversary, and thus I'm a "30 for 30" Team PAM member.

You can donate now on my runner page at: http://www.mnpreservation.org/2011/02/03/bcm-run/. I'll continue posting my progress here on bonsthon blog and on Facebook. Thank you for your support of my goal--a healthy community and a healthy me.

Itching to get on the treadmill

It's been five days since I've run due to my skiing mishap and I'm missing my run. That must mean that I either like it or have an addiction. Can't wait to get going again. Hoping that I get the "all clear" from my ortho doctor on Thursday seeing as I have signed up to run in the Valentine's Day 5K on Saturday. Of course, it's only supposed to be 3 degrees...that injury excuse is looking better every day.

Count--still holding at 96.5 miles
Balance--deficit of 12 miles from plan :(

Two left skis.

Thank goodness I left plenty of time in my training regimen to allow for one or more injuries. This Saturday was filled with a great day of skiing at Afton Alps, until the last run when my skis caught in a neighboring snowboard and twisted one knee going north and the other going south. I'm down and out for a few days until my orthopedic doctor can come to the rescue.

This is a real bummer as I was right on track. So far, I've run 96.5 miles. This has put me eight miles behind. Better to heal properly and make it up later.

One more note, we've uploaded our "30 for 30" Team PAM (Preservation Alliance of Minnesota) program description. Click here to sign up and run for the past!